Running head: PRESCHOOL AGE OBSERVATION

Preschool Age Observation

Aiden Aizumi
University of La Verne
5/10/14

PRESCHOOL AGE OBSERVATION

A CONFLICT WITH ANOTHER CHILD

Anecdote
I observed a child (Ill call him John) who appears to be about the age of 3-4. He is
playing with building block and making a structure. While he is building another
boy (Ill call him Will) comes over and begins to add his own blocks to Johns
existing creation. John makes a displeased face, and says to Will, Im playing here.
Will, continuing to add blocks, replies back saying, I want to play, and pulls a block
from the structure, making a portion of the structure fall. With what is remaining,
John jumps to his feet and yells, No! using his arms to protect his blocks, and says,
Its mine, go away. The boys start to both become upset, and a teacher comes to
see what is going on and resolve help resolve the conflict.
Interpretation
John and Will were displaying characteristics and the beginning stages of the socialproblem solving process. During preschool, children learn a lot about how to
socially interact with their agemates and pick up on social cues and etiquette.
Children who get along well with agemates interpret social cues, accurately,
formulate goals (being helpful to peers) that enhance relationships and have a
repertoire of effectively problem-solving strategies for example, politely asking to
play (Berk, 2012, p. 376). At this stage, John and Will are just entering this area of
development and learning how to interact with each other in a healthy and
appropriate fashion. Wills behavior is more accurate of someone who does not
embody these positive social problem-solving skills. He embodies a child who may
have more peer difficulties, and does not understand the cues and behaviors of his
peers. This could lead to him continuing to barge into a play group without asking,
use threats and physically force, or fearfully hover around peers activities (Berk,
2012, p. 376).
CONFLICT WITH AN ADULT
Anecdote
I observed a child (Ill call him Jack), with his mother. Jack is playing with some of
the other children on the playground. His mother calls his name as well as another
boys name saying, Come on Jack and Tommy, time to go. Almost immediately,
Tommy comes running, and the woman picks him up. (I assume Tommy maybe
Jacks sibling) Jack however, ignores his mother, and continues playing. She calls
him several more times, and he continues to ignore her. After a few more tries she
says, OK, Im leaving. He is still ignoring her. As a final attempt she walks up
towards him and in a raised voice says, LETS GO! He turns and replies to her in a
raised voice, NO, I DONT WANT TO GO. I HATE YOU! With that she picks him up,
as he throws a tantrum, kicking, screaming, and hitting his mother. She just says,
We have to go now. They walk to the car and leave.

PRESCHOOL AGE OBSERVATION

Interpretation
Jack ignoring his mother is a sign of him asserting his autonomy. At his age, he does
have the ability to understand compliance show clear awareness of caregivers
wishes and expectations and can obey simple requests and commands. And, as
every parent knows, they can also decide to do just the opposite (Berk, 2012, p.
282). Jack is aware that his mother wants him to follow her so they can leave, but he
also is following his own want and what he wants to do. This is not necessarily a
result of poor parenting, but it can be a sign of that. Although defiance in
preschoolers is associated with negative parent-child relationships and poor
adjustment, toddlers who sometimes strongly resist parental demands tend to have
sensitive, supportive parents with whom they interact positively (Berk, 2012, p.
282). Most likely Jack was just asserting himself, and putting his own wants over
the wants of his mother, and ended up expressing his anger and frustration in the
only way he knew how.
SOCIODRAMATIC PLAY
Anecdote
I was watching two children, one boy and one girl playing (lets call one child, Caleb,
and the other Mary). They appear to be playing hospital or doctor. Caleb is wearing
a stethoscope, and Mary is sitting on a chair. Caleb says, Im going to check your
leg. She replies, ok. And he places it on her leg for a few seconds and then turns to
her and says, Let me give you a shot. He uses a toy syringe to give her a shot on her
leg. After that he tells her, Ok, now you need a Band-Aid.
Interpretation
Caleb and Mary are participating in sociodramatic play, which is a theory of Piaget.
Compared with social nonpretend activities (such as drawing or putting puzzles
together), during sociodramatic play preschoolers interactions last longer, show
more involvement, draw more children into the activity and are more cooperative
(Berk, 2012, p. 319). By playing in this more imaginative state, Caleb and Mary are
benefiting at a greater level compared to if they were just to participate in other
activities like drawing. Although make-believe play is not always as embraced as
academic activities, there is now proof of the benefits and how it helps down the
road with other cognitive skills.
EGOCENTRISM
Anecdote
There is a girl (Ill call her Jane) who is talking to her teacher. She asks the teacher,
Why does the moon follow me? Every time I am in the car the moon goes where I
go. The teacher smiles, and replies, Are you sure the moon I following you? Jane

PRESCHOOL AGE OBSERVATION

says, Yes, because every time I go it goes. I am there and I turn around and it is
there.
Interpretation
In this situation, Jane is unable to see things from any other point of view than her
own. Piaget argued that preschoolers egocentric bias prevents them from
accommodating, or reflecting on and revising their faulty reasoning in response to
their physical and social worlds (Berk, 2012, p. 321). Even though the moon is
there for all people to see and experience, Jane is under the impression that it is
following her, and only her, as opposed to seeing it as an experience shared by
everyone.

TEMPERMENT
Anecdote
The teacher has music on and the children are called over to the carpet to dance. All
the children go over and start dancing to the music. One girl, (Ill call her Carol),
does not follow her classmates. The teacher calls her over, and she shakes her head
no, and holds her hand over her mouth. After a few minutes, she slowly joins in,
laughing and giggling with her peers. Right after the end of the song, Carol asks her
teacher for more music that she can dance to.
Interpretation
In this observation, Carol was a little hesitant to join in the dancing with her
classmates. Eventually she did jump in, but initially she was not as eager to join in
on the fun. When we describe one person as cheerful and upbeat, another as
active and energetic, and still others as calm, cautious, or prone to anger outbursts,
we are referring to temperament (Berk, 2012, p. 256). Carol would be seen as
having a more cautious temperament, and may continue to be cautious up and
through her adult life. She would also have some of the characteristics of a child
who is slow to warm up, but not to the extent that she is in a negative mood. After
all, she did end up laughing and having fun once she had joined in on the activity.
ATTACHMENT TO PARENT
Anecdote
A girl arrives at school and she is crying. Ill call her Anna. Annas mom hugs her and
gives her a kiss and says, I will be back later to pick you up. Anna clings onto her
mother and does not want to let go. She continues to cry, and he mother kisses her
again, and pulls Anna off. Anna shakes her head no and tells her mom No! Her
mom starts to walk towards the door to leave, and Anna grabs her leg, still crying
and yelling no. Annas mom makes it out the door and the teacher comes to make

PRESCHOOL AGE OBSERVATION

sure Anna doesnt run out after her. Anna yells and cries, fighting the teacher and
trying to wiggle out of her arms.
Interpretation
In this situation, Annas attachment to her mother is being displayed. What Anna is
displaying is a little bit of separation anxiety. She is upset by her trusted caregiver
aka her mother, leaving her at preschool. Although it is hard to determine which
type of attachment Anna falls under due to the fact that the return of her mother
was not witnessed, Anna appears to follow more closely to the description of a
resistant attached child. Before separation, these infants seek closeness to the
parent and often fail to explore. When the parent leaves, they are usually distressed,
and on her return they combine clinginess with anger, resistive behavior, struggling
when held and sometimes hitting and pushing (Berk, 2012, p. 267). Anna definitely
showed signs of distress when her mother left her at preschool. Securely attached
children can also cry or be upset by their parent leaving because they prefer their
parent to the caregiver, but Anna was also resistant to the teacher, and was overly
upset, leading to the assumption that she may fall more under a resistant
attachment child.
INITIATIVE VERSUS GUILT
Anecdote
A girl (Ill call her Sara) is asked by her teacher to help get ready for art time. Her
teacher asks her to put a basket containing art supplies at each of the tables. Sara
eagerly does this task, and takes one basket at a time to each of the tables. After she
finishes, her teacher asks her to place a piece of paper at each seat. Sara walks
around the room asking her classmates if they want to do the art activity, and
students start to find a seat to participate. After the activity is over, Saras teacher
asks her to wash her hands, and Sara gets to help her teacher set up for lunch by
helping her peers wash their hands and pass out paper towels.
Interpretation
When Saras teacher asked her to assist in classroom activities, Sara is experiencing
what Erickson called initiative versus guilt. As the word initiative suggests, young
children have a new sense of purposefulness. They are eager to tackle new tasks,
join in activities with peers, and discover what they can do with the help of adults
(Berk, 2012, p. 364). Sara is able to try her hand and being helpful and learning new
skills with the support of her teacher, and in an environment that is safe to explore
and fosters that growth process. This lines up perfectly with the theories of
Erickson in that play permits preschoolers to try new skills with little risk of
criticism and failure (Berk, 2012, p. 364). In case Sara was unable to successfully
fulfill the duties asked of her, her teacher would be there to help her, and guide her
so that next time she maybe able to do it on her own. Sara would not feel shame, or

PRESCHOOL AGE OBSERVATION

bad for needing help, and this will help Sara in the future to continue to try new
things.
MOTOR DEVELOPMENT
Anecdote
The children are out on the playground. A boy (Ill call Josh) runs to climb the play
equipment. He goes up the stairs using alternating feet and once he is at the top,
finds the slide, sits and goes down. This repeats several times, until another boy (Ill
call him Sheldon) invites Josh to ride the tricycles. The two boys ride around, racing
and going in circles. After Josh is done with the tricycles, he goes and rides a
scooter. Sheldon is still on the tricycle, but the two boys are still playing and now
chasing other children around the playground. Once he is done with the scooter,
Josh goes back to the play equipment and plays on the slide again.
Interpretation
This is a great display of Joshs gross motor skills. By age 2, preschoolers gaits
become smooth and rhythmic secure enough that soon they leave the ground, at
first by running and later by jumping, hoping, galloping, and skipping (Berk, 2012,
p. 308). Josh is obviously past that stage of development, but it shows that he has
successfully reached those stages of his development. Since Josh is also able to ride
a tricycle, and steer it around obstacles, and in the direction he pleases, it shows that
he has also continued to develop appropriately. As children become steadier on
their feet, their arms and torsos are freed to experiment with new skills throwing
and catching balls, steering tricycles, and swinging on horizontal bars and rings
(Berk, 2012, p. 308). Josh and his classmate Sheldon are both developing their gross
motor skills appropriately for their age level, and by observing their motions shows
that they are not delayed in this area.

PRESCHOOL AGE OBSERVATION

7
References

Berk, L. E. (2012). Infants, Children, and Adolescents (7th ed.). Boston: Pearson
Education, Inc..